Define crazy
by curiousivy8
Summary: The Death City asylum for mentally challenged teenagers. It's a place for crazies, not Maka! But... what if that's exactly where she belongs? Maka has a mental disorder that she refuses to accept. But when she is sent to the Death City Asylum, will a group of crazies help her accept herself, flaws and all? AU
1. I'm not crazy right?

**I know, I know, I should update my other stories before doing this one buuuttt...**

**THIS IDEA WOULDN'T GO AWAY! **

**I totally love AU stories just as much as uh... non-AU stories, I guess. I read two stories about the Soul Eater gang being mental, and I'm just like- MUST. WRITE. CRAZY. SOUL. EATER. CHARACTERS. But so yep! Hopefully this will be a really long story. As short as it may sound, i'm hoping for it to clear at least 10, 000 words. I already have the second chapter of this in progress, so I hope it won't be that long of a wait. I don't own Soul Eater... *grins evilly* YET. I don't own Perception, either (there's a referance) Review and you will be blessed with Soul's coolness for all of everness!**

Soul: Everness isn't a word, stupid. And stop promising my cool to people, it's getting on my nerves.

**Me: You're starting to sound like Maka.**

**Soul: Wha- OH SHIT YOU'RE RIGHT!**

**Me: Haha. I win. **

**Maka: What's wrong with being me?**

**Soul: uh... **

**Maka: Oh just shut up. Hey, you did the disclaimer without me! I thought I was going to do it this time!**

Me: O.O Uh... oops?

I was hallucinating again.

I remember that I was in my room, hiding from my parents' fights. Papa had cheated- again. This was… what? The third time he cheated this month? I had frowned, angrily realizing the pattern. My dad brought home some easy woman from the bar, my mama found out, they fought, and I was stuck in between. So, once again the pattern repeats itself, and my papa cheated and Mama found out and she wasn't very happy, thus another fight broke out. I was still able to hear them over my music blaring through my headphones. I had sunk lower to the floor, hoping The Pretty Reckless would be able to hide my pain again. But, something about the song must have triggered another hallucination, because I was no longer in my room.

Everything was white. I looked around, my face blank. This wasn't my bedroom anymore, which was pretty obvious. As far as I looked, there was nothing except white. I would have thought I was in a blank room, like you might see in an asylum, except for the never-ending expense of bright pink grass, growing wildly out of the white ground, it's un-kept blades reaching my knees. From what I could tell, the sky was… black? Yes, it was black. Off in the distance, there was the moon setting. It wasn't drifting off to sleep, like usual. It was grinning, black blood dripping slowly out of its mouth, its yellow surface glowing a disgusting yellow light. This was by far one of the weirdest hallucinations I've had so far. A clicking noise from above me made me freeze. I slowly looked up, taking a closer look at the sky. That's when I realized that the sky wasn't actually black. There were spiders hanging down from the sky, big black widows floating on thin, silky black thread. There were millions of them, completely oblivious to the fact that I'm below them.

That's when it started to get scary.

The beautiful grass began wilting, shriveling up and dieing. The blades of soft grass fell, the moisture sucked out of them. The pink grass was now a yellowish brown, flattened against the ground. The world beneath my feet began to tremble as one by one, corpses began to rise, as if I was standing on top of a graveyard. The stench of rotting flesh filled the air as the dead bodies began to move in jerks and twitches, slowly making their way towards me. Their eyes glowing a malicious red, they all simultaneously grinned, and I felt fear that had previously absent stopping my heart.

I was paralyzed.

I couldn't move.

How do I breathe again?

Where am I?

I keep trying to scream.

Why can't they hear me?

Where are Mama and Papa?

Don't they care where I am?

Oh that's right; I didn't tell them I had hallucinations.

If I did, they probably wouldn't care.

I just want my family back.

The black widows that had been hanging from above me suddenly started dropping, like gravity had chosen that moment to take over. The spiders dropped, covering the wilted grass and crawling up the bodies. I felt some start crawling up my legs just as the zombie-like things reached me. They grasped my wrists and clawed at my clothes and pulled at my hair. Little voices whispered into my ear, _Give up, Maka. Give up. No one cares anymore. If you leave, people would be happier. _Maybe the voice was right… if I left, would Mama and Papa stop fighting? Maybe they could have another little girl that they could give the life I never had.

I never got to swing on the swing set.

I never got to make new friends.

I can feel my kitten, Blair, paw at my side. Why can't I see her? Where is she? Oh yeah, I'm hallucinating. Come on Maka, this isn't real. Just focus on Blair, see if you can bring yourself back to reality.

_Give up, Maka._

I never got to go to school.

I never got to eat candy until I felt sick.

I can hear Mama and Papa fighting in the kitchen. Is that all they ever do? Work and argue? They have a daughter, AKA me! I wish that they acted like they loved me more. It's like I hardly have a family. What we have is a cover-up for the sorry excuse for a relationship. I can hear my bedroom door opening.

_No one cares about you anymore._

Whenever I got the flu, I had to take care of myself.

Mama was always working

_They'll be happier without you there._

Papa was always out with a woman or getting drunk at the bar.

I'm fifteen now, and I've never had a sleepover.

I can hear someone yelling. Is that Papa? Is he still fighting with Mama? No, he's yelling my name. What did I do? I didn't do anything wrong! Wait… is he crying? But Papa never cries! Even when Mama yells at him and slaps him or whenever he has a really bad hangover, he doesn't cry. Is that Mama? Why does she sound so scared? Please stop screaming, Mama. What's wrong?

_No one loves you_.

I have no friends.

Maybe it would be better to give in…

I woke up in an unfamiliar room. My music was no longer blaring, and I wasn't wearing my jeans and sweatshirt. Instead I was wearing… a hospital gown? A cheap clock on the wall read 3 o'clock. Before I had my hallucination, it was 6:30 PM. That told me that I had slept through the evening and it was already early morning. Blinking the tiredness out of my eyes, I checked out my surroundings. I was lying in an uncomfortable bed, covered with scratchy white blankets. There was an IV attached to my arm for some reason, and a panic button on the little bedside table next to me, almost covered by a glass vase full of cheerful yellow daisies. One the far side of the room there was a sink with a couple of light blue cabinets, a gray swivel chair resting next to it. The floor was black and white checkered linoleum, covered with scuff marks. The walls were a blank white, with a window on the wall to my left, with a hard plastic chair underneath, occupied by my mother. She was running a hand through her hair, worry lines creasing her face and etching years of age into her young, pretty face.

"M-Mama?" I managed to croak out, surprised at how hoarse and weak my voice sounded. I don't know how she managed to hear me, as my voice was almost a whisper. But she was at my bedside in a flash, a fake smile plastered onto her face.

"Maka! Thank goodness you're awake!" She said, her voice betraying her concern. I felt bad that I had worried her. She already had so much stress on her, with Papa's cheating and work and bills and homeschooling me. Now she had to deal with having a nut job for a daughter. Great. Don't I just feel like little Miss Sunshine this morning!

"What h-happened to me? Am I in a hospital?" I asked, slowly regaining the strength in my voice. My throat felt dry and scratchy, and my head is pounding.

"Oh sweetie, You see…." My Mama began, sweeping a strand of her ash blonde hair behind her ears, her eyes refusing to meet mine as if she was trying to figure out how to break bad news to me carefully. Luckily for her, the door to my hospital room swung open to reveal a slightly scary man with gray hair and glasses. He had stiches running down his face, like he had surgery, and his lab coat. The most noticeable thing about him, however, was a gigantic screw going through his head that he cranked with the one hand that didn't hold his clipboard. He offered us a small smile as he walked in, his boots thudding against the floor loudly

"Hello. You must be the Albarns." He said with a quick glance at his clipboard. "Yes, alright then. Well, I'm Professor Stein, and I'll be your doctor as of now. So from what I understand, you had a mental breakdown." I gaped at him slightly. Mental breakdown? No, I'm not crazy! Well, says the girl that hallucinates and hears voices.

"No. I had another hallucination." I corrected him reluctantly. I wasn't too happy that my big secret was out in the open, but I didn't want him to think I was overly-stressed or had anxiety or was depressed or something… even though I kind of was. I saw Stein cock and eyebrow.

"You've had a history with hallucinations?" He asked, scribbling something down on his clipboard while giving my mother a pointed glare. "You didn't mention that earlier."

"It's news to me." She said with a shrug. Stein gave me a softer glare than he gave my mother.

"Why wouldn't you tell your parents?" He asked, sitting himself down on the swivel chair and spinning himself around like a child might do. I didn't respond, giving my mother a pointed look. She sighed and gathered up her purse and coat, her high heels clicking sophisticatedly against the hard floor. As soon as the door to the hallway was shut, I turned to Stein and sighed.

"It's not just hallucinations. I hear stuff too. Like little voices telling me to do stuff." I told him. The professor just nodded, writing down more notes. "And I guess you could say I'm delusional." I admitted.

"Do you understand what all that means?" He asked me slowly.

"Yeah. Delusional means you become unwaveringly convinced that something is true without any evidence supporting it, like you may become convinced a Russian mobster is after you for no reason." I stated, remembering it from when I had read a book on psychology and mental disorders.

"Good. I can tell you're a smart girl." He said, his glasses flashing as he offered another small smile. After a few more questions, he pushed away from the wall on his swivel chair, rolling until he reached the hallway door that led to the rest of the hospital.

"Thank you, Maka. I'll be right back." He opened the gray door, almost falling of his chair on his way out. Thankfully, he didn't send my Mama back in. I really wanted to be alone for a while. Lying back, I reflected over what happened. I had a really bad hallucination, and my parents came in and realized I needed medical help so they called a doctor and sent me to a hospital. Then came the questions that always seemed to haunt me. What was wrong with me? Why had it taken them so long to realize I was sick? Where was my Papa? Actually, I could probably answer that myself. He was most likely at the nearest bar or club, drowning his consciousness in alcohol like usual. I snorted as I thought about the woman he was going to bring home, even though he had a daughter in the hospital. But that was just the kind of immature man he was. The door opened again to reveal Professor Stein and a young blonde woman. She was fairly young, with wavy hair and a black and yellow eye patch over one eye. I'm pretty sure that she is the only on that can pull off an eye patch like that. She wore a black and yellow dress that reached her feet, and unlike the dresses that his father's mistresses always wore, didn't reveal anything unnecessary, with a black collar and sleeves. The woman gave me a kind smile, and when she looked at me I saw that her golden brown eyes were soft and kind. I liked her instantly.

"Maka, I'd like you to meet Miss. Marie." Stein said, gesturing towards the older woman. Miss. Marie gave a small wave.

"Hello there, Maka," Marie said to me. "Professor Stein and I believe we know what's wrong, and we thought maybe you'd like it better if we told you first, before your parents or anyone." I thought about it and realized that was exactly what I wanted.

"Well? What's wrong with me?" I asked eagerly, leaning forward in my bed. "It can be fixed, right?" My hopes were crushed, however, when I saw Miss Marie look at me sadly.

"Well, Maka," She said, glancing at Stein before fixing her gaze on me. Her hands clasped firmly in front of her, she continued, "Professor Stein and I, based on what you've told us and what we could gather medically and scientifically, we believe that you're a…. a…"

"Yes?" I pressed on, knowing that this wasn't going to be good.

"A schizophrenic. We believe that you're a schizophrenic." She finished quietly. I fell back onto my pillows, letting that sink in. I'm a schizophrenic.

I mean, I know what that is. I've read about it and seen the T.V show Perception, but I never, _ever_ expected to be one myself. I don't scare easy, and I'm not surprised easily, either. But this was the biggest mind blow I've ever had. I felt things start to slow slightly around me, as if it wasn't important enough for me to care. I faintly heard Miss Marie mention something about medication, and some sort of hospital. I just managed to nod faintly, swallowing hard. What was my Mama going to say? I guess I didn't have to wait long, because I heard Miss Marie and Stein leaving the room to go tell her. I faintly heard a gasp, sobbing and Miss Marie trying to calm my Mama down.

"It's alright… I'm sure… We're going to… would you agree to… I'd like to… I'm sure Maka would love it there…" I wish I knew what was happening. But that wasn't going to happen. I felt my eyelids growing heavier with each blink, slowly closing until I had fallen into a deep sleep.

A peaceful, dreamless sleep.

**Okay, lalalalalala this was fun. Now review. So I'll feel awesome and happy and hopefully get off my sugar high. HAHAHAHA SUGAR!**


	2. My new friends

**Hiya my rockin peeps! I'm all hyped up on caffine and can't fall asleep, though I probably should, as it's four AM and I haven't slept. BUT I HAVE GOOD REASONS *cough cough not* One, I was writing this chapter, Two, ****Progata ****writes REALLY good SoMa fanfics and I was reading ****A guitar can change a person. ****Speaking of which, Progata, if you ever read this, please update that story so I won't explode. Thirdly, I had a really weird dream involving Soul and this weird clown rag doll that we eventually defeated with a dishwasher and eggs. Don't ask.**

**Maka: That's odd.**

**Me: You have no idea.**

**Maka: Ivy doesn't own Soul Eater.**

**Me: You don't have to rub it in...**

**Maka: Go in the emo corner and I'll kill you. Read and review.**

**Me: Please enjoy my second chapter for Define Crazy, which I don't think will have any problems reaching 10,000 words! In response to the reviews.**

**katieOoT- Thankz a you! You are the first reviewer! You rock :D**

**Supernaturalchick8- Rockin name, BTW. I love Perception, it's awesome! OMD, you're right! I'll add in that it's paranoid schizpohrenia. Thanks for pointing that out for me!**

I was shotgun sitting next to Miss Marie in a big white van, listening to her chatting happily with me flicking through the radio stations until I found a rock station. I was dressed in a black tank top with white suspenders and a red and black plaid skirt that showed off my long legs. I had on big, black, gothic-looking boots, with my ash blonde hair up in pigtails. I closed my eyes and leaned back into the leather seats, letting my misery wash away in the music. Ever since I had started to take my little 'crazy pills' as I called them, I've been extremely tired. I suppose it's just a side effect. They seem to work, though. I haven't had a hallucination in days, and the little voices stayed out of my head. If the pills do their job, I guess I can deal with some fatigue. I think a big part of my willingness towards taking the medicine was that I wanted the doctors and therapists to see I don't need to be in an asylum for mentally challenged teenagers, that I could be a normal kid and live a normal and SANE life. I frowned, wondering why they thought I needed to go in the first place. Like I said, the meds did their job.

I really loved the song that was playing. I'm pretty sure it was I'll Miss the Misery by Halestorm, but I'm not certain, which kind of fit how I was feeling. It was an upbeat kind of song, the artist nearly yelling at me through the speaker. It reminded me so much of my parents' relationship. There wasn't much of a relationship in the first place, and what little they had left of one wasn't a very loving relationship. I don't think I'll miss their fighting very much while I'm in this nut house. I sighed as we reached a red light, Miss Marie still talking. Honestly, how long can one woman talk about the weather? It's been what, an hour?

"Where are we going again?" I asked her softly, just loud enough for her to hear. I heard her falter slightly before reaching into the glove box and rummaging through a bunch of papers, finally pulling out a colorful little pamphlet and handed it to me.

"We're going to The Death City asylum for mentally challenged teenagers. Don't worry; it's not nearly as bad as the name." She said with a laugh. "The only problem with the name is that we have kids as young as six years old here!" I flipped through the little brochure, considering. It didn't seem that bad, but it was cheesy beyond belief.

Little kids, around seven years old, were finger painting in a big rec room while supervisors tried to help autistic kids complete puzzles, all with huge, exaggerated smiles, a little girl trying to read a book with the help of a nurse, looking up at the older woman with an expression full of joy. There was a group of teens sitting in a circle, having what I was guessing was a group therapy sessions, with one boy standing and speaking while the others listened with understanding looks plastered on their faces. Each page was colored a different page, and there were little smiley faces next to sayings like 'Understanding your problems is the first step to acceptance' and junk like that. Well, at least they were trying. The kids were probably just models, the director of the asylum paying their parents hundreds of dollars to pretend like they were happily insane.

I finally made it to the last page, where they had a group photo of a bunch of kids in front of the mental hospital, apparently these kids were actual patients. There were a bunch of girls and boys ranging from ages 5-19 years old. I guess Miss Marie was right; the hospital made an exception and let the younger kids in. It was a big building; I would say about five stories, and made of a red brick, like an old school house. Thankfully, there weren't bars on the windows- hopefully that would make me feel less like I was at a prison. Outside there was a sign that said DEATH CITY ASYLUM, WHERE EVERYONE CAN OVERCOME THEIR EMOTIONAL CHALLENGES.

I gave yet another depressed sigh at reading how cheesy the pamphlet was and realized something odd about the picture. Everyone was generally standing together, hugging their friends and making peace signs with their fingers, smiling or frowning or whatever suited them, for the most part looking pretty content. Except for one kid, that is.

He was standing off to the side, his hands shoved into the pockets of his leather jacket. He glared at the camera with scarlet eyes, his shock of white hair messily pulled back by a thin black head band. He looked like he wanted nothing else then to get away from the camera. I wonder why he was in the Death City Asylum. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with him. But then again, I had been insane for fifteen years and I haven't known, so I guess I shouldn't judge.

"So? What do you think?" Miss Marie asked, looking over at me with a smile. I shrugged.

"I think that pamphlet was the cheesiest thing I've ever seen." I stated simply. There was pure silence for about three seconds before Miss Marie and I burst out laughing, Marie almost losing control over the van.

"I know, I've never really liked that thing." Miss Marie said, wiping a tear from her cheek that had slipped out during their little laughing fit. "I had tons of idea for it, but the director's secretary wouldn't even let me show them to him! So, they created that instead." She gestured to the pamphlet. I glanced at my iPod screen, realizing with annoyance that we'd be there within the next ten minutes. I wasn't crazy!

_Oh, but aren't you?_ The voice whispered into my ear again. I blinked, not registering what I heard at first.

_Welcome back to the world of the insane._ The voice giggled. I seriously needed to name that thing. Calling it the voice all the time was getting extremely annoying. I know! I'll name it Penny. Ever hear of 'a penny for your thought?'

_What are you doing just sitting here? _Penny whispered. _Get out of this stupid car. Leave this place. Come on, Maka, where's you're rebellious side? Stop letting this weirdo rule your life!_

As much as I hated to admit it, Penny was right. I didn't want to have my life ruled by Miss Marie and Professor Stein and my workaholic Mama and alcoholic Papa. However, I wasn't able to turn back now. And it's not like I've ever-or probably will ever- listen to Penny. Wait, if I was on my meds then why was I- oh. My parents were fighting again this morning, this time debating over whether or not I should go. My papa was arguing against it, saying that he wanted me to be close to his side- that, and if people found out his only daughter was in a mental hospital it'd be bad for his reputation. Mama's argument was that I needed to go somewhere where I could get proper treatment for my Schizophrenia. Their fight was so loud and distracting that I had spent the entire morning in my room, blaring rock music while I packed for the hospital. I must have forgotten to take my crazy pills this morning. I suppose it was too late to take another dose now. I'll just have to deal with Penny until it was time for my next dosage.

"Oh look, Maka, we're here!" Miss Marie cheered, pulling into the closest empty parking space. I looked up at the building, amazed at how it still looked the same as it did when the photo for the pamphlet was taken, which must have been almost five years. Even the quote on the sign was the same. I got out of the van slowly, as opposed to Miss Marie, who had bounced out of the van and briskly walked to the trunk, gathering my single suitcase and one backpack. I had been told not to bring any toiletries, that they would be provided. I guess that makes sense, because some of the depressed kids might bring in razors. Smart.

I slung my backpack over my shoulder as I walked into the building behind Miss Marie, watching my surroundings carefully. The floor was black and white checkered, and the walls were white with flowered wallpaper. The receptionist lady gave us a smile, greeting us cheerfully.

"Hi Marie! Oh, is this the new recruit?" She said. I saw her name tag read Ella. Oh. That's a nice name. Miss Marie gave a nod.

"Yup. Ella, meet Maka Albarn, the paranoid schizophrenic." I held out my hand, offering a rare smile.

"Hi." She took my hand gladly, her curly blonde hair bouncing as she nodded. A quick conversation between Ella and Miss Marie popped up, mostly talking about some really cute therapist that had just gotten hired. I just stood there awkwardly, not really sure what to do. I was so relieved when they exchanged goodbyes, Miss Marie picking my suitcase up again and lugged it over to the elevator.

"Alright. I'm going to explain how the building's floors work." Miss Marie said. "This obviously is the first floor. It's mostly offices for the doctors and the main therapists, and there's a bunch of janitor closets and such, but it also holds some of our younger kids. They are ages 7-12." We stepped inside the elevator, and Marie put down my rather heavy red suitcase with a sigh of relief. Flexing her sore arms, she continued.

"The second floor is for kids ages 13-15. It's a pretty small floor, and there aren't a lot of kids in there- only about six. The third floor is for kids ages 16-18. That's one of our biggest and most populated floors, and it's also where you'll be staying." The elevator dinged, revealing a long hallway with doors lining each side, each in a different design. I could see the hallway opening up into more hallways and large rec rooms. I could see on the far left there was a cafeteria, and next to it there was a gym

"The fifth floor I don't want you going to; it's for the dangerous and severely unstable. Anyways, each floor has it's own cafeteria, rec room, gym and main therapist office." Marie said as she led me down the confusing maze of hallways. "Each floor has a main therapist where you can go if you have a question or just need someone to talk to. I'm the main therapist for this floor, and at the end of this hallway is my office. Just look for the big yellow door." She pointed down the hallway opposite of where we were heading, and said door stood out brightly.

"Speaking of doors, what's with all these?" I asked, running my hand down on in amazement. It was a perfectly symmetrical black door, with little white 8's around the edges. In the center was the name DEATH THE KID written in bold white letters. Marie smiled.

"Ah, yes. Well, you can decorate your door however you want. The boys' rooms are on the right and the girls are on the left. This is Death the Kid's room. He has severe OCD, which is most likely why it's perfectly symmetrical."

"I didn't think they put people in mental hospitals just for being OCD…" I said. How bad could this kid be?

"Well…" Marie trailed off softly. Giving me a sheepish look, she revealed just how bad his OCD was. "It got to the point where he would scream at complete strangers on the street for not being symmetrical."  
Oh. It was that bad, huh? I passed the door next to Death the Kid's, stopping to examine it a little closer. It was painted a bright blue with basketballs, footballs, hot dogs and sunglasses messily scribbled onto it, with a boy's signature in the center. Who names their kid Black Star? I wondered. Well, who names their kid Death the Kid? I guess there were a lot of messed up parents in Death City.

The next door was even stranger. I noticed that someone had written the name Crona very small, with weak little smiley face surrounding it. Another name, Ragnarok, was written in all caps in the direct center in bold red lettering. It looked extremely messy as opposed to the first signature, which had been printed neatly. Since the hospital didn't allow roommates, I assumed the boy had a multiple personality disorder.

On the girls' wall, I saw a pretty pink door covered in flowers and smiley face suns, the name Tsubaki written in a delicate cursive, written in what looked like black calligraphy pen. If the doors reflected upon her personality, she must be a really sweet girl. I wonder why she was here…

The next door I stopped to look at. It looked like it was its original gray color. Whoever owned the door didn't seem to want to paint it. A girl had written LIZ in a purple marker, with the words & PATTI written underneath in a messier scrawl, in a blue crayon. Underneath the names there was a picture of two little girls in crayon. One girl was extremely tall and skinny with light hair. The other was short, with a huge grin on her face, and bright yellow hair. Did this girl have a multiple personality disorder like that one boy?

"Ah, yes." Marie said, noticing that I had stopped walking. "That's Liz and Patti's room. Typically the hospital doesn't allow roommates, but the girls are sisters. Their father left when they were young, and their mother… well, she wasn't too happy about producing two children with mental disorders. The girls refused to be admitted unless they shared a room; fought us tooth and nail for it." She added. I could understand why they wanted to be together. Their mother abandoned them, their father left. They only had each other in the world, and they wanted to stay together.

The next door was completely blank, and I realized that it was my room. Pushing the door open, I saw a small room with a wood floor. The walls were a clean white, and there was a window on the back wall. Next to the window there was a twin bed covered with a colorful quilt. No sheets, though.

Next to the bed there was a small wood nightstand, a short blue lamp and alarm clock sitting on top. On one wall there was a small closet full of clothes hangers. On a small shelf that had been placed in there, I saw a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a hair brush. Closing the closet, I saw a wooden desk and chair. Opening some of the desk drawers, I found pens, pencils, paper, highlighters, crayons, and markers. I even found a bible in the top drawer.

"Your father requested that for you." Miss Marie commented when I found the book. "He thought you might like having it to read before bedtime." For once, he was right. I used to read the bible every night before I had fallen asleep… until my family fell apart. Once my Mama had found out my Papa was cheating, the arguing started. I eventually gave up the hope that god might still be watching over me.

"I'll leave you alone so you can get your room ready." Miss Marie said, heading for my door. Realizing it was still blank, as I had just gotten here, she was quick to mention I could decorate my door whenever I wanted. If I wanted to use paint, I could get it with her permission from the rec room.

Now alone with my thoughts, I laid on my bed, hoping Penny didn't start talking. Lazily checking my alarm clock, I realized with a start that it was already time for my next dosage. Hopping up, I walked over to my desk that had a pill and glass of water waiting patiently on top. It had been like that when I walked in, so I assume that a nurse or someone came in every time it was time for my next dose. Effective way to prevent a purposeful overdose.

"Well Maka," I told myself cheerfully. "If I'm insane, then so be it. Bottoms up." I downed the pill and took a swig of water. Tossing the plastic cup in the small trash can next to the desk; I heard a timid knock on my door.

"Hello?" I asked, pulling the door open to reveal girls. They all looked about my age, and they all seemed friendly enough. One girl was tall and extremely skinny. Her light brown hair fell carefully on her shoulders. She wore a black T-shirt with a big white heart across her rather large chest, and bright red skinny jeans. Fingerless red gloves and red boots completed her outfit.

The next girl greatly resembled the first when it came to her facial features, but her hair was a perky blonde that was cut into a bob, currently being held back by a neon green bandanna. as grinning largely, looking like she was amazingly happy. The girl wore a tight, sparkly blue tank top that greatly showed off her bust and black sweat pants. She also had on black converse sneakers.

The last girl had a sweet face and kind eyes like Miss Marie. Her raven hair was pulled back into a messy bun, loose strands framing her face. She wore a dark green T-shirt with faded white words spelling LOVE, NOT HATE across the front. The girl had on faded blue jeans and a few beaded bracelets. Lastly, she had on a pair of black boots. She held out her hand, smiling hopefully at me.

"Hello there. I'm Tsubaki." She said. Ah, so this was Tsubaki. I was right; she was just as sweet as I thought. "I heard that you were just admitted today, and I thought it would be a good idea to come by and see if everything was alright." The blonde stuck her face by mine, her eyes open wide. Leaning in extremely close, she whispered as though telling me a deathly secret.

"Do you," She breathed, "Like giraffes?" I blinked in confusion. Wait, what?

"Uh… Sure?" The blonde grinned again and nodded to Tsubaki and the other girl.

"She's all right! HAHAHAHAHA YAY!" The blonde spun in circles until she ran until the wall. The brunette sighed, rolling her eyes. She gave me a knowing look.

"Little sisters. Got to love them." She said. "Anyways, I'm Liz. The psycho one is Patti. It's good to see a fresh face in the dump." I grinned; I liked them already. Maybe I could make my first friends in the same place I thought was going to be my new prison.

"Nice. I'm Maka." I said. Did they already know that I was a Schizophrenic? "Does she have Psychosis?" I asked, nodding towards Patti, who was now _making_ snow angels on the floor. Liz laughed wholeheartedly.

"Patti? No. She might be easier to handle if she had Psychosis. Patti is actually bipolar… I'm guessing she's just on a high right now. She has those a lot." Patti's carefree attitude disappeared, replaced with an angrily sulk.

"Maybe I don't feel like having people knowing that, Sis! _Gosh!_" Patti snapped, crossing her arms and kicking at the wall. Tsubaki started to hyperventilate, and generally acting like a panic attack was coming on. Liz just sighed, covering her eyes with her hands. What can I do?

"Hey Patti, cheer up!" I said, knowing that I didn't sound to convincing. "I'll tell you my mental illness, if that makes you feel better." The blonde perked up, looking at me hopefully.

"_Really? You'd tell me?_" She asked in disbelief, her mood going from crazy to depressed to normal in the time span of about thirty seconds. "But I just met you!" I smiled at her, offering my hand to her to help her up off the floor.

"If it'll make you feel better, sure! How about I tell you guys my story and you guys tell me yours over a snack or something?" Liz made a face.

"I'll do storytelling, but I'm not eating anything." She said with a wave of her hand. "Have to keep this figure somehow."

"Come on, Liz! You have to eat something! This is what? Your second day of not eating?" Tsubaki pleaded. Noticing my odd expression, Tsubaki hurried to explain.

"Liz is severely anorexic." She said. "She'll go through periods where she'll try to starve herself, sometimes so bad she is taken to the hospital. That's why she's here." Oh. Well that's not very good. I better change topics, before I lose some potential friends.

"What about you, Tsubaki? Why are you here?" I tried, receiving a shy glance from the raven haired beauty. She didn't reply for a moment, instead smoothing down her messy hair and tugging at the edge of her tee. Patti groaned, tipping her head backwards in annoyance.

"Tsubaki here has a SEVERE case of generalized anxiety disorder." Patti replied for Tsubaki. "She's not too proud of it though." She added as an afterthought.

"Oh. That's nothing to be ashamed of, Tsubaki." I said comfortingly, patting her shoulder in a sisterly fashion. We had begun to walk to the rec room, slowly making our way through the hallway of doors as I had decided to name my hallway.

"It's not as bad as what I have." I gave a bitter laugh, giving the wall next to me a deathly glare. I knew the girls were waiting for me to elaborate, which was only confirmed when Patti reminded me that I had promised her that I would spill what my mental illness was.

"I'm a paranoid schizophrenic." I admitted, waiting for the judgment to come. It was harder than I had expected to admit that I was in fact crazy. If I had known, I wouldn't have promised Patti. However, no judgment came to me. I should have known; these girls know what it feels like to be crazy. As a matter of fact, their reaction was polar opposite than what I expected.

"No way! I've never met a schizophrenic before!" Liz exclaimed. "There's not another schizophrenic patient in the whole hospital!"

"Yeah, this is so cool!" Tsubaki added. "Is it true that only 1.1% of the world's population has schizophrenia?" I nodded, remembering that fact from a quick internet search had earned me only a few hours earlier.

"HAHAHAHA I'M GONNA BREAK A FREAKIN' GIRAFFE NECK!" Patti yelled, throwing her hands up in the air, clearly having another mania episode. I thought popped into my mind.

"Uh… Liz?'

"Hm?" She responded.

"Isn't Patti medicated?" Liz stared, and for a moment I thought she might have taken that offensively. Before I could take it back, she started laughing.

"Patti? Oh geez, you have no idea." She said between peals of laughter. "The nurses give her everything they got but Patti's crazy, and meds ain't going to help her." Tsubaki nodded wholeheartedly, giggling as Patti started screaming "BUTTERFLIES!" and wildly grabbing at nothing. Ah, the fresh power of childish insanity.

Reaching the rec room, Liz began to explain about how things generally worked around the hospital.

"Everyone gets a schedule." She said as they walked into the giant room. "It's like high school for mental patients. You get a schedule and you go there at the right time and you do whatever you have to do there before going to your next activity." She pulled out a crumpled piece of printer paper and smoothed out the creases, showing me what it said. Her activities went in the order of Gym, Group Therapy Session, Free time, Lunch & Outdoor time, One-on-one therapy session, Free time, Arts and Crafts.

"Everyone has these activities, just in a different order," The older girl explained to me. "Except for the Group Therapy Session and the Lunch & Outdoor time. It's pretty much like recess for the mentally challenged, like us." Liz grinned, gesturing to her and me. I smiled back, linking arms with a crazed Patti, who kept saying "Oooooh look Maka, there's a cupcake stand!" and pointing to the puzzles table. I let myself be dragged over, Tsubaki and Liz in tow.

I looked happily at my new friends, loving the fact that they treated me so normally, so sisterly.

Even if they are a little strange, my girls rock.

**YAY, cuz you know it's true; Liz, Patti and Tsubaki do rock!**


	3. A simple black door

**OMD this story is so much fun to write! I got all motivated and stuff becasue I got really cool looking knee socks! They're black nad gray and pink striped covered with music notes :D Anyways, since you probably don't care, lets get down to buisness.**

**In response to reviews:**

Mouers- OMD I didn't notice that! I'm not trying to copy anyone's story or anything, I didn't know. Sorry, to all of you who think that!

**soul- Uh... Do you want it to be?**

**GUNstalk- Why thank you, I try :D And when it comes to updating... TA-DA!**

**Supernaturalchick9- My twin bro had the idea to give Black Star a certain disorder, and if I didn't put it in here he would probbbbbbbbably kill me. Thank you though! You reviewed twice! I'm all happy! *passes out***

**Maka: How does she always pass ou before she can do the disclaimer?**

**Soul: No idea. but me and Black Star are going to draw on her face in Sharpie**

**Maka: She will murder you. Literally.**

**Soul:... true...**

**Maka: Ivy doesn't own Soul Eater. Thank death. She would probably make it all about Soul and I... *shudders* She also doesn't own She's so Mean by Matchbox 20.**

**Me: *wakes up* IVY-CHOP! *bashes ukulele over Maka's head* YOU AND SOUL ARE PERFECT TOGETHER, SO SHUT UP AND DEAL!**

**Maka:...**

**Soul: Review so Ivy doesn't get even more irked and kill us.**

I giggled at another random remark Patti made about cupcakes and Liz. Tsubaki had sat down in a chair next to the bubbly girl, trying to calm her down with not much success. The supervisor for the puzzles just watched us with a smile, like it was such a sweet thing. I guess it was. I don't understand how they can stand being around all these crazy people and not mind all their antics, but think it was funny and cute instead. I give them props for that. I plopped into a chair in between Liz and Tsubaki, leaning back in my chair and crossing my feet on the table, my big black boots clunking together as I talked to Liz more about our disorders. Faint, upbeat music was playing, livening up the room. I recognized the song to be She's so Mean by Matchbox 20, making me gasp. I loved this song! I popped out of my seat, startling Liz. Tugging on her hand, I pulled her into the middle of the rec room.

"Come on! Let's have some fun!" Liz must have understood what I meant. She bounced onto a table that was covered with hair things and grabbed a hair brush, holding it to her mouth like a microphone.

**I kn-kn- know a girl**

**She gets what she wants all the time**

**But for an angel she's a hot, hot mess**

**Cause she's fine**

Liz sang, pointing to me as she jumped of the table, strutting back over to where Tsubaki was sitting with Patti.

**Makes you so blind**

**But you don't mind.**

Liz leaned onto Patti's chair, throwing her arm around her sister as she sang. I grabbed a hairbrush microphone and jumped right in.

**Cause she's an uptown, get-around, anything-goes girl**

**She's a hard-core, candy-store, give-me-some-more girl. **

I sang loudly, making Liz grin. I skipped over to her, my hair bouncing.

**She'll make you take her to the club, but then she'll leave with her friends**

**She likes to stay late at the part because the fun never ends**

**And all her clothes are on the floor, and all your records are scratched**

**She's like a one-way ticket cause you can't come back! **

I threw my one arm over Liz's shoulders as we sang together. By then we attracted quiet an audience, now having the attention of everyone in the rec room. The kids that understood what was happening had started clapping their hands to the beat.

**Sayin' yeah, and you want her**

**But she's so mean**

Liz sang into her hairbrush, spinning away and doing a little skip hop.

**And yeah, you want her**

**Buts she's so mean**

**You kn-kn- know that if you don't shut your mouth**

**She'll freak out**

I rolled my eyes and gave a flick of my hand, showing off some of my natural attitude. Liz grinned and took over, singing the next verse.

**You better get your shit together **

**Cause she's bringing you down now.**

**Yeah, boy, you better, you better.**

I pulled Patti to her feet and gave her a spin. Liz danced over and swung Tsubaki away, making Tsubaki laugh. To my surprise, Patti, whose mania had already faded, and Tsubaki grabbed hair brushes too, joining Liz and I with our little show.

**Cause she's an up-town, get-around, anything-goes girl, girl.**

**She's a hardcore, candy-store, give-me-some-more, girl, girl.**

Tsubaki sang in a sweet voice, her eyes dancing with laughter. By now, most of the rec room was cheering and laughing and clapping.

**She's got a wicked sense of humor, can't believe what she says**

**She drinks Barcardi in the moment till it goes to her head**

**All you want is just to hold her, but she won't go for that**

**She has a hard time coming when she can't hit back!**

Patti's voice was strong and bubbly, and she smirked and ruffled my hair playfully as she sang.

**Sayin yeah, and you want her**

**but she's so mean**

**Yeah, and you want her**

**But she's so mean **

Liz rocked out, singing at the top of her lungs, jumping up and down wildly.

**Every now and then she makes you just a little bit crazy**

I sang, grinning at how ironic that line was, slowing down the pace of the song.

**She'll turn a knife into your back and then she's calling you baby**  
**Crazy**

Liz and Tsubaki joined in, speeding the pace up as we got ready for the next verse.

**She'll take you to the club, but then she leaves with her friends**

**She likes to stay late at the party cause the fun never ends**

**And all her clothes are on the floor and all you're records are scratched**

**She's like a one-way ticket because you can't come back!**

We sang all sang, linking arms as we prepared to end the song.

**Sayin yeah, and you want her**

**But she's so mean**

**Yeah, and you want her**

**But she's so mean**

**Yeah, and you want her**

**Yeah, you want her **  
**Yeah, I know you want her, but she's so mean**

We finished, taking a bow as the crows of crazies clapped and laughed and squealed. The girls and I dropped our hairbrushes off at the table as Sober by Pink started to play. Wow, this place has some pretty awesome music.

We dropped back into our chairs, breathless and laughing.

"That was so much fun." Tsubaki exclaimed, her hair finally falling out of her messy bun, which she hastily moved to fix.

"Yeah, we totally need to do that again sometime." I laughed, totally hyped up on adrenaline. The rec room slowly started to calm down, the kids going back to their previous activities or leaving for their next activity on their schedule. Lying back, the girls and I just chilled for a while, talking about anything that interested us. Music, Art, reading, our mental disorders, family life, stuff like that. I learned from Liz and Patti that they had been forced by their mother to be pickpockets, and they had to steal from people until they got sent to the asylum, after they had gotten caught and failed the psych exam.

I learned from Tsubaki that her family was highly respected in japan, and very rich. The family inheritance was supposed to go to her older brother, but after Tsubaki was born, the money was decided to go to her instead. Her brother had been so outraged that he revealed Tsubaki's anxiety to their parents, who sent her to a mental hospital after it got extremely bad. I also found out that it didn't do her brother much good, because the family inheritance was still going to her. Soon after he figured this out, he ran away in shame of betraying his sister so greedily.

I revealed to my new found friends my love for the arts. Music, singing, art, writing, reading, you name it. If it involves the Arts, I'm in. I had been in the church quire when I was little, and I joined band and orchestra in middle school. However, in high school I stopped because the classes got too easy for me. I had taken art classes for years, drawing and drawing as much as I wanted. Eventually, all the money that had been put into the art classes was used for my Papa's drinking money. 'Everyone has to make sacrifices.' I remember his slurred voice saying as he took my art money. I had not been to an art class since.

I also told them about my family problems. Tsubaki was sympathetic, and seemed to understand. Liz got angry and cursed the day my father was born, calling him names that got us a disturbed glance from our supervisor, and making me giggle. Patti just gave me a big hug, which seemed to comfort me the most. I don't know what made me open up to these girls; I just felt like they could relate so easily.

Soon after we had started talking, a young boy about my age walked up to us. He had two-toned gold eyes, a pale face and black hair with three horizontal white stripes on the left side of his head. The boy was dressed in black converse low-tops and dark blue jeans that had slits at the knee. He wore a black sweat jacket that was only partially zipped over a plain orange tee shirt, which hung loosely on his skinny frame. A small smile danced across his face as he approached us.

"Hello, ladies." He said calmly to us. Liz stood up, offering him a grin. Not knowing what to do, I stood up as well. "That was a nice show you put on. You all sing beautifully, you know." Was it just me or did Liz blush slightly? Patti ignored the boy entirely as she tried to figure out why the puzzle pieces didn't taste like cupcakes and I began to wonder if there was a medication strong enough to control her craziness. Eh, most likely not.

"Hey Kid." Liz said with a wave, casually leaning against the back of Patti's chair. Maybe I had been mistaken about her blush; it seemed more likely with how calmly she was acting. The boy who I'm guessing was named Kid tilted his head at me.

"Newly admitted patient, I suppose?" he asked formally. I gave a bold nod, cocking my hip.

"Hey there. I'm Maka Albarn, pleased to meet you." I shook his hand, staring straight into his endless gold orbs. "And you are?

Kid's small smile grew into an amused grin.

"I'm Death the Kid but I'd prefer you call me Kid." Oh, he was that severely OCD boy! The one whose door I stopped at first! Suddenly, Kid's eyes widened as he cupped my face in both his hands, making my turn a bright red. What the heck was he doing? He turned my head left and right, closely examining me. Then he gasped in amazement, only increasing my annoyance.

"You…" He said in awe. "Are perfectly symmetrical!" Yeah, he was that OCD kid. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Liz stifling a giggle. Oh yeah? I gave an evil smirk.

"Hey Kid, Liz looks very symmetrical today, doesn't she?" I said casually. Liz sweat dropped, frantically mouthing 'NO' over and over. But the damage had been done, and revenge was sweet, because sure enough, Kid let go of my face and grabbed onto hers, closely inspecting her features to make sure that she met his qualifications of symmetrical. Apparently, Liz did, and it looked like Kid was going to kiss her, his eyes glowing happily, a puppy dog expression on his face.

"Oh, the amazing symmetry! The wonderful, glorious symmetry!" Kid clasped his hands together, lost in his own happiness. Liz sighed, motioning for Patti to come over. The blonde happily complied, her black converse smacking the hard, black and white linoleum floor.

"Yeah sis?" She asked with all the innocent of a three year old. Liz jerked her thumb in the direction of the ecstatic Kid, clearly annoyed.

"Tell him in that special way of yours, Patti." Liz said, irritation coating her voice. Patti grinned like a maniac before going completely serious. Her face twisted as she growled harshly at Kid.

"Snap your filthy, asymmetrical ass out of it, damn you." I looked up, startled. Was Patti on another low? Geez, I know she's bipolar, but this was weird. I saw Kid stop his worshipping rant, looking at Patti, as confused as ever. To my surprise, big tears welled up in the poor kid's eye as he fell to the ground and started _wailing_.

"OH PATTI I HATE YOU I HATE YOU OH I REALLY DO!" His buried his face into the ground, pounding his fists on the ground like a three year old that didn't get a toy he wanted at the grocery store. I just stood there like a moron, wondering how to deal with this. I looked at Liz for help, and she looked at me with a grin. _Works every time. _ Liz mouthed to me proudly. I suppose I could just leave him like this… I don't know how to deal with it.

"K-Kid?' A pink haired… boy, I think… came up behind Kid, his bangs swishing, covering his nervous, darting eyes. "I don't know how to deal with my friends like this." Oh, well how ironic. He crossed his arms protectively over his chest as he looked at Kid freaking out. Liz sighed, realizing he was scaring the boy and kneeled down, patting his back soothingly.

"Come on Kid, cheer up. Just think of how symmetrical you always are!" She tried, smiling a fake smile. She began listing how many symmetrical traits he had, and I noticed how she purposely avoided the topic of his odd hair. Kid sniffed and looked up.

"R-Really Liz?" He said gratefully, earning a nod from everyone in the group. He stood up, brushing off his black sweat jacket and going back to his formal self. Liz rolled her eyes and gave me an _Oh well. He's cute though _glance. Diverting my attention back to the newcomer, I finally got a better chance to look at him.

He wore a tie-dye shirt and faded blue jeans. He had on Puma running shoes and black fingerless hobo gloves like Liz's. His pink hair was choppy and uneven, looking pretty un-kept as his bangs kept flopping into his eyes. I noticed that in one hand he held a soft, worn teddy bear by its arm so that its feet almost touched the floor. It looked like it had lost most of its stuffing. It had stiches from when it had been sewed back together several times. It had lost one eye, which was now replaced by a bright red button. He looked at me nervously.

"A-are you new here? I don't know how to deal with newcomers…" He mumbled, holding his teddy close to his chest as he shuffled his feet. Tsubaki came up behind him, putting her arm around the boys shoulder protectively.

"This is Crona." Tsubaki introduced. "He has multiple personality disorder. When he's Crona, he's a little shy sweetheart, but when he's Ragnarok…" She gave a small shudder. Huh. I held out my hand to Crona, giving him one of my rare real smiles. He looked at me, shocked.

"Hey there, Crona." I said. "I'm Maka Albarn. Would you like to be my friend?" Crona took a step back, still unused to people. However, after a moment, the boy reached out and slowly took my hand, giving it a tiny shake and a tiny smile to match. Crona gave a nod, his smile growing as he realized he had just made a new friend, and he wasn't even scared. I giggled. I've never really been good with people, which showed through the fact I had no friends until I came here. To all the kids that went to my school, I was just an isolated nerd that would knock your teeth out if you made a comment about my flat chest. But, now that I'm at the Death City Asylum, I've made five friends in five minutes. We talked and chatted and laughed, and it seemed like they really understood me. Like they understood everything I was going through…. NO MAKA! I scolded myself. STOP THINKING YOU'RE CRAZY! YOU AREN'T! But that little voice in the back of my head, not Penny, but someone else altogether whispered,

_But what if you are?_

Thankfully, Kid snapped me out of my thoughts. Everyone was looking at me expectantly, awaiting an answer. I turned slightly red as I realized I missed the question.

"Uh, sorry, can you repeat that? I kind of zoned out for a second there." I said sheepishly. He smiled and nodded.

"I asked why you were admitted here. You seem perfectly sane to me." He observed. I felt myself turn even redder. _Perfectly sane. _Yeah, I wish. Nope, I was an absolute crazy person; it's just that I was also heavily medicated. Kid's eyes widened as he realized I might be offended.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that-" He began, but I cut him off. If he and Crona were going to be my friends, I suppose they should know. After all, they knew what it's like.

"I'm a paranoid Schizophrenic." I said simply. Like I had hoped, he didn't judge. He just nodded and said alright, sensing I didn't want to talk about it yet. The topic went from everyone's disorders to the people in the hospital.

"There are around eighteen kids on our floor." Liz said. "There is one kid here that spends have the time here, half the time up on the fifth floor." I looked at her in surprise. The fifth floor Miss Marie warned me about? Liz must have noticed my surprise because she grinned.

"Yeah, that fifth floor. The kid is depressed, and he's been here almost five years." Wow, that was a long time. How bad was this kid's depression?

"His family disowned him when they found out he needed to go to a mental hospital. He had tried to commit suicide by hanging, but it didn't work right. He still tries to kill himself in the hospital, and that's why he goes to the fifth floor sometimes." She explained as we walked out of the rec room, as it was time for group therapy. We walked into the room, still chatting happily. The group therapy room was behind a light blue door next to the cafeteria, and it had a cheery yet calm atmosphere. The room was full of bean bags and cushions and chairs that you could choose to sit in. There were brightly colored rugs covering the wooden floor, and the white walls were covered in red and blue and yellow handprints of all sizes.

"Once someone is well enough to leave the asylum, they put their handprint on the wall and sign their name underneath." Kid explained, noticing me examining the wall carefully. "Now come on, it's about to start." I took a seat in a red plastic chair next to Liz and Crona. Miss Marie walked in, and everyone took his or her seats. I saw seven other kids there; not including Liz, Patti, Tsubaki, Kid, Crona and I. Miss Marie explained that today we were all going to be introducing ourselves, as I was new here. The first to stand up was a boy named Kilik. He gave me a grin and told me had a severe case of Narcolepsy. The next was a girl named Eureka, who told me she in a bored tone that she had Antisocial personality disorder. Then was a girl named Kim, then a boy named Ox, then a girl named Jacqueline, then a boy named Harvar. The last boy had bright blue hair, and literally leapt across the room and landed in front me, hands resting on my shoulders to stop his fall, face close to mine.

"I AM THE AMAZING BLACK STAR! I WILL SURPASS GOD!" He yelled, most likely blowing my eardrum out. Glaring at him, I slipped to the side, making him lose his balance and fall face first into the chair. Everyone laughed as Black Star flailed around, trying to get back up and regain his dignity.

"You're all right." He said with a grin. He offered me his hand, which I took and shook. "I'm Black Star. According to all of these doctors, I have delusional disorder, but I think they just can't handle how awesome I am!" I think disturbed is a better word to describe him. But I suppose I wasn't really one to judge, considering that I was insane myself.

Now that he wasn't falling and jumping and flailing, I could see him better. He had green eyes and his bright blue hair stuck up in odd directions. He wore a few rubber wristbands and a gold dog tag. He wore a white and blue sports jersey, ripped blue jeans and blue sneakers. He actually looked… normal. Of course, he then he would open his mouth and the image would be ruined. When things had settled down, Kid stood up and introduced himself, even though she already knew him.

"Hi again, Maka. As you know, I'm Kid, and I have OCD." He sat down, then leaned over to whisper,

"We're actually pretty close to Black Star, too. You might have to get used to him; we hang with him a lot." Tsubaki stood up.

"I'm Tsubaki, and I have Anxiety. We're already good friends, so that's all." Liz stood up, ruffling my hair affectionately.

"Maka, I already know you, you already know me, and so I think we're all good here." After a fist bump, Liz sat down and Patti stood- well, more like bounced- up and gave me a huge hug.

"I'm PATTI and I am… uh… OH YEAH! I'M BIPOLAR, AND YOU'RE LIKE A SIS TO ME, SO HAHAHAHA!" Patti flopped back down and Crona waved to her, whispering.

"Hi Maka. I'm Crona." Miss Marie stood, clapping her hands.

"I'm so glad you've made friends already, Maka! I knew you'd like it here." She beamed, making me smile slightly. "Oh, after this session is over, I have your schedule up here. I'm pretty sure most of your activities are with Liz and Patti, so that's convenient that you three are already friends." The session continued, and I realized that it was actually kind of fun. We did a trust exercise where you have to close your eyes and fall backwards so your partner will catch you. I got partnered with Tsubaki. After that we tried to get each other to laugh, seeing who can say the funniest thing or make the funniest face. In the end, it was Patti and Black Star, but Patti eventually won, much to Black Star's disbelief.

It was actually pretty fun.

After the session I had grabbed my schedule and looked it over with the girls, and much to our delight we shared all of our activities together. I dropped the girls off as we passed their rooms, saying quick goodbyes and promising that we would hang out the next day during free time.

I reached my room quickly, sadly looking at my blank gray door. I'll have to paint that thing, soon. The dang thing was going to depress me whenever I saw it if it stayed gray like that. I brightened up when I realized that I now had a chance to paint again, something I haven't been able to do for a while, thanks to my Papa. Maybe I could even find a music room. If it had a guitar, my life would be complete! I started playing when I was a little girl, and I loved it. It didn't take long before I was a pro, but like with art, I haven't been able to play guitar for a while… Oh, how I'd love to, though. I'll have ask Miss Marie about it when I get a chance.

A sudden slam from my right made me look up. Someone had slammed a door, and it wasn't hard to tell which one, as it was still vibrating from the force. I walked down the hallway slowly, pressing my body against the opposite wall as I made my way over.

It was painted completely back, with the name SOUL written in red. Underneath it, however, it looked like someone had carved a message with a pocket knife, which surprised me, as I knew for a fact the hospital would never allow such a thing through its doors. STAY AWAY was the message. Even though I should probably be frightened, I wasn't. It was an insane teenager with a pocket knife, what could go wrong? A lot, but I didn't really care. I wanted to know more about this kid. Soul. I made my way to my room, wondering what he looked like and why he was here.

I fell onto my bed, exhaustion overwhelming me.

I'd ask Liz about him tomorrow.


	4. Back a year and around again

**Ohhh my gosh. I love this story, it's so fun to write :D Wow, I already hit 10,000 words? YAY FOR WRITING! Anyways, this story will now have some OC's that weren't originally planned, due to the fact I told, like, eight of friends about it, and my brother, and my sister and if I didn't put them in my story they would most likely have murdered me where I stood. So, since my friends will be popping up in the authors' notes a lot, I will put names to their OC's so that you know who they are:**

**Ty: Amos**

**Aiden (my bro): Tyler**

**Me: CJ**

**Karlyn: Karlyn**

**Claire: Claire**

**Caroline: Rose**

**Izzy: Isabelle**

**Yeah, I know, that's a lot of OC's for an originally completely cannon story, but I didn't feel like dying. Also, sorry for the late update but my computer decided to commit suicide. Meh. But I'll make up for it in chapter length! This chapter had, like, 5000 words, and the next chapter I'm already working on. So, sorry, and yes all of you who asked, SOUL SHALL MAKE HIS APPERANCE SOON! I was being awful and already wrote it down, so MUWAHAHA! I'll shut up. I don't own Soul Eater. Neither do you. Review and I'll write faster, thus you see Soul sooner. AH LOGIC!**

I yawned and stretched, blinking the sleepiness out of my eyes as I tried to wake up. Sighing, I looked at my alarm clock, and then bolted up and out of my bed in shock as I registered the time. It was 8:45, almost time for my first activity to begin! Usually I woke up at six o'clock exactly. What the heck had happened? I face palmed as I remembered how sleepy my crazy pills make me. That was probably why I didn't wake up as early as I had trained myself too.

Hurrying to my closet, I frantically shifted through my clothes that I had neatly put in my closet the day before. All my clothes were either schoolgirl clothing that I could probably wear to church if I wanted, or punk clothes. After a quick decision, I dressed myself in neon pink tank top that was ripped up and down the back, with the word ART written in black on the front, black jean shorts and silver, sparkly converse high tops. Putting my hair up in my signature pigtails, I ran off to join my friends in my first activity- gym.

Patti was wearing a green sweatshirt and jean shorts with black converse low tops. Her left wrist was covered with colorful rubber wrist bands, and black stud earrings went up and down both of her ears. Her face was frowning, and she was sulking, so it was safe to say she was on a low. Liz wore a pink and white striped tank top, and black skinny jeans that hugged her figure. Wow, she was skinny. Her blonde hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and she grinned when she saw me. Tsubaki waved me over, smiling happily at me. She wore a red long sleeved shirt, and a white baseball cap covered her raven hair, which, like Liz, was up in a high pony tail. She also wore ripped jean capris, and tall black combat boots.

"Hey there, Maka." Tsubaki said. "Would you like to be on my team?" I nodded, and gym began.

I pretty much failed as epically as humanly possible. The game was basketball, something I sucked at. I had tried to make baskets, but I didn't know the rules of basketball, and I didn't really have anyone to teach me. Remember, I'm all about music and art and reading. The only thing I'm good at physically is track or hand to hand combat.

That was something I had learned when I was young. No one would have suspected a girl who couldn't even shoot a basket could beat a man that was easily twice her size, but that was me. When I was around twelve, I had been walking home from school when a street thug came up to me and tried to kidnap me. I had freaked out, and flailed and shrieked as much as I could. Eventually, something clicked inside of me and I felt my mind slip into a sort of calm, and I had control over my body again. I flipped the guy, managed to sprain his arm, crush his ribs and knock him unconscious in a matter of minutes. I escaped with only a scratch from when the guy had pushed me up against a wall.

The fact I could run so fast for so long was pretty surprising too. When I was a kid, younger then when I had fought that thug, a few kids where teasing me for reading. They told me I was just a weak little girl, that I was such a loser, and that I couldn't do anything right. So, my temper had flared up and I challenged the boys to a race around the school, which I had easily won. The kids were at least two years older than me, but as soon as I left the start line, which was drawn in chalk, I was instantly in the lead. It was fun, too. The feeling of the wind blowing my hair, my feet pounding against the black top, I felt had felt so powerful, so… free.

I could beat up a man twice my size and beat two older boys in a race but I didn't know the rules of basketball. It was almost sad. Liz and Patti easily beat me and Tsubaki, who I apologized to later for making her team lose. She was as kind hearted as ever, sweetly saying that I had tried my best, and that was all that mattered. I still don't know how she could possibly so understanding all the time; I would have cracked a long time ago.

"Come on, Maka, cheer up!" Patti said, tossing a basketball up and catching it. "We'll teach you how to play tomorrow, okay?" I grimly nodded, shuffling my feet as we left the gym, sweating and smelling awful.

On the way to group therapy, we met up with Black Star and Kid, who was wailing about how asymmetrical Black Star's hair was. He had thrown himself on the floor like he had the day I first met him, throwing a temper tantrum. Black Star was grinning with his arms crossed as he watched the black haired boy cry.

Black Star wore a green tank top with an orange number 1 on the front. He wore faded blue jeans and green and black running shoes, his blue hair wild as always. He had on his gold dog tag, like yesterday, but now he had on green wrist weights. Noticing Tsubaki, Black Star jumped over and swung his arm over her shoulders, giving her a quick peck on the cheek, making her blush terribly.

"Hey sweetheart." He said in a very un- Black Star like fashion. I blinked at him, wondering what was wrong. OH YEAH. He was delusional. Apparently, Tsubaki realized he was having a delusional as well and she moved away from his touch and looked at him.

"Black Star, did you take her medicine today?" She asked gently. He gave her a weird look.

"Why would the amazing BLACK STAR need to take any medication? Like I said, the doctors just can't handle how awesome I am!" Tsubaki and I exchanged glances. Oh boy…

"Black Star, why did you kiss Tsubaki?" I asked with a sigh. He crossed his arms again, leaning against the wall, irritated.

"We've been dating for over two years, Maka. Where have you been?" Wow, this was quite the delusion. Liz looked up, pausing in her attempt to cheer up Kid to smirk at Tsubaki.

"Oh really Tsubaki?" Tsubaki blushed even deeper and took Black Star's arm, literally dragging him to Miss Marie's office so that he could take his medication. It was quiet the struggle though, as Black Star had started flailing around in attempt to avoid his next dosage. I suppose I'm not the only one who didn't like the taste of my meds then. I turned my attention back to Liz, who wasn't having as much luck as Tsubaki.

"Come on Kid, you're better than this." Liz said, yanking on his arm, trying to get his face out of the ground. The young boy let out a moan, and resulted to slamming his face into the ground. Heck with OCD, this kid was insanely self-destructive. Liz heaved a sigh and kneeled down, pulling Kid up so that his whimpering face was even with hers.

"Kid, calm down. I'm symmetrical. You're symmetrical. Tsubaki and Maka are symmetrical. Just focus on that, all right? Don't go all crazy on me." Kid sniffed and wiped the tears from his eyes. He straightened up, brushing off his shirt before acknowledging me with a friendly nod and smile, and suddenly it was like it had never happened.

Kid wore a black sweatshirt, with the initials D.T.K sewn on the left shoulder. On the back there was a white number eight. He wore dark jeans with silver chains hanging on both sides and red sneakers. A loud crash from down the hall made us look up. It seemed to be coming from Miss Marie's office… I wonder if they had resulted to duct taping Black Star to a chair yet.

Apparently not because a few minutes later Tsubaki walked out from Miss Marie's office, a sheepish and sulking Black Star following close behind. Tsubaki smiled as she reached us again, nodding towards the room that hosted the group therapy.

"Shall we go in now?" She asked. I nodded, skipping in to the colorful room arm in arm with an energetic Patti, who was now having a high. I noticed there seemed to be a few new kids in the room. Two boys actually, one with blonde hair and one with black hair and they grinned when my little group of friends walked in and made their way towards us.

"Hello, there love." The blonde said to me, ruffling my hair. He came around behind me and wrapped his arms around waist. I frowned at him. Who was he calling 'love'? I literally just met him a second ago. The black haired boy grinned and flashed me a peace sign, his shoulders slouched and his hand in his pocket.

"I'm guessing you're new here, as I've never seen you before." He said and I nodded. He held out his hand, sheepishly ruffling his black hair. "Well, I'm Tyler. The creep that's hugging you is Amos. Uh… you don't really have to worry about that though… he's gay… and has Dependent Personality Disorder… " He explained, noticing my weird expression, laughing slightly. I sighed in relief, and relaxed my tense shoulders, not minding Amos's hug now that I knew he wasn't being a creep on purpose.

Tyler wore a red sweatshirt that looked like the sleeves had been cut off, and a light gray T-shirt underneath. He had on loose fitting, ripped blue jeans and worn red and white DCs. His black hair was scruffy and long, and his bright blue eyes sparkled. If it wasn't for how friendly he was, I would have guessed he was a criminal with the way he stood with his shoulders slouched, and how scruffy his clothes were.

Amos wore a white, long sleeved shirt and really long jeans, considering how tall he was. He towered over me and everyone else in the room, standing way over six feet. His blonde hair was cut short, in a military hair style, and his blue-green eyes matched his smile. Like Black Star, he had on a dog tag, but his was bronze instead of gold.

"I'm Maka." I said warmly, taking his hand and shaking it. I wonder if there is anyone else on this floor that I haven't met yet, besides the one kid that slammed his door. It felt like there was something I was forgetting to do… oh yeah; I was going to ask Liz!

Just as I had turned to my anorexic friend, the door had opened again to reveal a frazzled Miss Marie, and the Group therapy started, leaving me with no time to ask Liz about the boy named Soul. Everyone took their seats (I got a red beanbag this time), and I sat next to Tsubaki and Amos, who had wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Alright everyone, so what we're going to do today might be slightly hard for some. We are going to tell others about your lives before you came to the asylum. Try and make it at least a minute long; tell us anything- Your likes, dislikes, habits, and family, whatever you please. Does anyone want to go first?" I felt myself flinch. I got to tell everyone about my messed up family and how I used to have no friends except for as cat and my books. That's just peachy, isn't it? To my surprise, Liz took a deep breath and stood up.

"Patti and I are sisters, as most of you know. We were raised in Brooklyn, by a mother that couldn't care less for us. She became a drunk and a prostitute after our dad left. Patti didn't have any medicine back then to dull her mood swings, so she scared all of the kids. I was one of the only ones that could calm her down.

"When we were five years old, my mother forced us to become pick pockets, and we would go out and steal from people, Patti being the distraction. Patti and I would bring the money home, and if we did well, we got a piece of candy. If we did badly, we got slapped and sent to bed without dinner. When I turned 13, my mother gave Patti and I guns, in case some guy noticed what we had done before we could get away. We never used them, because we never got caught. That was until Patti and I had gotten bolder, and decided to try and rob a jewelry store. The manager's son noticed, though, that something was different. Probably our clothes. Everyone in there was dressed up in suits and dresses while Patti and I were dressed like street rats, which was exactly what we were. By that time, the two of us had made quite the name for ourselves. Anyone in their right mind feared us, especially if Patti was low. If that happened, you were screwed. The kid told us that he knew who we were, and he offered to help us. I didn't trust anyone, and I was certain that he was just messing with us. When he moved to touch Patti's arm because she went on a low and started crying, I had thought he was going to slap her, and I drew my gun. His father called the cops and they escorted us away. When they gave us the psych exam, we had both failed, and we both ended up here." She panted, out of breath and tired. Liz had begun to slur her words, speaking faster and faster, like she couldn't get them off her chest in time, like she had held onto it so long she needed to let it go before it began to crush her. I felt sorry for her, and tears threatened my eyes. Patti threw an arm around her sister's shoulder.

"Yeah. Our Mom was the most beautiful whore in all of Brooklyn." She scoffed, her face twisted into a scowl. Kid sighed and stood, his gold eyes blazing.

"I suppose it's my turn. Well, a few days after I was born, my Mother died. This greatly affected my Father, and for a short period of time, he became depressed. A friend of his, however, was a therapist and after a while he became better. Together, the founded this mental hospital, because my father wanted to help people like him. His original appearance frightened everyone, so now he acts like a three year old, and dresses up in silly costumes and talks in a voice that sounds like he swallowed a helium balloon. Slowly and subtly, my OCD began to activate, and it started showing. My favorite number was 8, and my I hated how my hair only has lines on one side. After a while, my Father noticed that I loved symmetry. I would rearrange my toys and shoes at the door, and everything I drew was completely symmetrical, and if it wasn't then I would throw absolute fits.

"My Mother had run a business before she died, and my father still kept it running along with his mental institution. When I was thirteen, I started working in the store. He decided that he should admit me into the Death City Asylum for mentally challenged teenagers when I yelled at the customers for being asymmetrical. At least it was a _valid_ reason to do so…" Kid scoffed slightly before continuing,

"The day I was leaving, I was working in the store when two girls dressed in street clothes sauntered in, and I could tell something was up. I realized who they were after a few minutes and I offered them my help. The one girl cried, and the other girl pulled a gun. My father freaked out and called the police, and they were escorted away. A few days after, I met them again. I'm pretty sure you can guess who the girls were. From then on, we became friends. That is my story." Kid sat down, smiling at Liz and Patti. I hadn't realized I was crying until I felt water slipping down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away, hoping no one noticed.

Crona shivered and stood, tapping his index fingers together sheepishly. He frowned and began his story, then came Kim, and Eureka, and Kilik, then Black Star, and on and on. I got so immersed in all of the sad stories I didn't notice when it was my turn to share. My face went red for what felt like the millionth time that day. I stood slowly, gulping when I saw everyone's eager eyes trained on me. Taking a deep breath, I began.

"Well, my parents had me when they were young, and for a while my life was great. My Mama taught me how to paint and draw, and how to sing and play guitar. She signed me up for lessons for both, laughing and calling me a natural. Every Friday, my family would watch movies and afterwards my I would play the guitar, my Mama singing along. My Papa read to me, and taught me how to read and gave me my love for writing. The fact I grew up with it is probably why I love the arts so much. After I went to school… stuff changed a little for me. I studied a lot, even though I always found time for my music and art. I didn't have any friends, and frankly I was fine with that. I didn't care about how many friends I had because I had my family, and that was good enough for me. When I was around… nine, I think, things changed even more. My Mama found out that my Papa was cheating, and that's when the fighting started. Mama stayed at work later and later, and my Papa turned to alcohol. He'd go to the bar, where he's drink and gamble his worries away. My Papa worked up such a debt that he started taking the money out of my art and music lesson funds. He didn't tell my Mama, though, and she only found out when all my art and music money ran out. That caused another fight, and it was the day I had my first hallucination. That was last year. It kept getting worse, and no one noticed, because no one cared. Kids at school bullied me, telling me to go and die already. My teachers just ignored them, not caring, even when I told them about it. My Mama and Papa were too busy fighting to care anymore. My Papa was always too wasted to read to me anymore. My Mama didn't paint with me, and she stopped singing along to my guitar. One day a couple weeks ago, Mama and Papa were fighting again. That's when I came here, and, well, you know the rest." I exhaled, sitting down. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulder; one that I didn't know I was carrying around with me. The room was silent, everyone looking at me quietly. I felt Amos wrap his arms around me again, sadly hugging me. Tsubaki ran over and did the same, and I saw she was frowning. Black Star leaped across the room again, landing right in front of me.

"YOU'RE GOD COMMANDS YOU TO STOP FEELING SAD! BEING IN MY AWESOME PRESENCE SHOULD MAKE YOU INCREDIBLY HAPPY!" He looked at me, frowning. I smiled at him, reaching out to poke his commercial blue hair. Miss Marie, who was crying, waved her hands and wailed something about how we could go now. Shrugging, everyone got up and walked away, chatting and giggling cheerfully. I went over to Liz and Patti, Amos in tow, Tsubaki next to me. Kid had beaten me there, and was already talking to them. I popped up, remembering how I was going to ask about Soul.

"Hey, Liz," She turned to me with a smile. "Do you know who a boy named Soul is?"

I didn't expect the reaction I received. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Gaping at me, Liz grabbed my shoulders like I had just died and came back to life.

"You… TALKED TO SOUL?" I blinked and shook my head slowly, wondering why it was such a big deal.

"Ah… no. Not necessarily. I was walking to my room and I heard a door slam, and I saw it had the name SOUL written on it. I thought it was strange and I thought since you knew most of the kids on this floor, you might have known who it was… and I'm guessing by your reaction that you do…" Liz sheepishly nodded, along with Patti and Kid.

"You know that depressed boy I was telling you about? The one who spends half his time up on the fifth floor?" I nodded. "Well, that's Soul. He doesn't talk to people much, so that's why I was so surprised."

"Oh. Ok then. Well, let's go somewhere, I'm bored in here." I dragged the group out, holding hands with Patti and- you guessed it- Amos as we skipped out the door, losing the little dignity we had and not minding. After all, how much dignity could you have in a mental hospital?

The gang followed us into the hallway of doors, where we stood for a while, not knowing where to go. Kid jolted all of a sudden, saying that he felt something asymmetrical in his room through some sort of telepathic symmetry connection and left. Crona blinked and told us he felt Ragnarok coming through and ran to his room, and shortly after we heard an evil cackle of laugher, followed by a loud crash. Black Star just grinned and followed Kid, saying he was just going to check on him, even though everyone knew he was really going to mess with him. Tyler sighed and followed Black Star to make sure he didn't torture Kid _too_ bad. Amos laughed and told us he was going to his room as well, leaving us girls alone.

Tsubaki gasped suddenly, her eyes gleaming.

"Liz!" Liz turned at the sound of her name, even though she was, like me, still surprised at how quickly the boys had left. "We didn't introduce her to CJ or Claire yet!" Patti jumped up and down, clapping her hand sand squealing.

"Are we going to go see CJ and Claire? YES!" She grabbed my hand and yanked me down the hallway. Liz and Patti jogged to keep up, trying to keep pace with an excited Patti.

"CJ, Claire and Patti are really close friends." Liz explained as I was being rushed down the hallway. "It makes sense, as CJ and Claire are the only ones crazy enough to understand Patti." We stopped outside a rather odd door.

It was a black painted door, covered with red and orange and yellow fireworks. The entire door was covered with a thin layer of colorful glitter, and the name CJ was written in bold red paint at the top. Patti pounded on the door for a good minute non-stop, singing a weird pop song that I didn't know. The colorful door swung open suddenly, and Patti's fist would've hit the girls' face had Tsubaki hadn't yanked her back just in time. I swear, that girl had ninja-like reflexes. Then I looked at the girl in the door way and I got a whole new definition of crazy.

She had brown curly hair, but that was the only natural thing about it. It was covered with red and purple and blue streaks, and full of bobby pins and hair clips that twisted it up into pigtails. Her brown eyes shone happily, matching her smile. That wasn't even the weird part. That was definitely her clothes. She wore black, gray and pink striped knee socks that were tucked into a pair of clunky black winter boots. She wore jean short shorts and a pink tank top underneath a black, off the shoulder shirt. To top it off, she wore a black, gray and pink plaid fedora on her head and a pink flash drive on a necklace around her neck. She grinned widely at me as a quiet BOOM went off behind her.

"Yo, my friends." She said, bouncing from one foot to another. All of a sudden, she jumped to attention, her eyes wide. "PATTI! MY BESTIE FRIENDO! You are just in time to help Claire and I with our newest explosive experiment!" Patti grinned back, bouncing up and down. All of a sudden, a girl cartwheeled to the door and bounced up behind the colorful-hair girl, only adding to my mounting confusion.

The newer girl was just as strange. She had black hair colored with purple streaks and covered with a bright purple beanie and bright green eyes. She had on black and white striped leggings underneath a short black skirt, also a pair of black army boots. She wore a bright purple T-shirt with the words ACROSS THE UNIVERSE written across the front in bold black letters, black, lacy, fingerless gloves on both hand and black heart earrings with a matching necklace. She grinned at us, not unlike who I was assuming was CJ, but slightly… crazier.

The girl that answered the door finally noticed me. Cocking her head, she asked if I was new here.

"Yeah, I'm Maka Albarn, the paranoid Schizophrenic." I stuck out my hand, waiting for a response. Both girls slowly looked down at my hand, and for a second I wondered if I had done something wrong. Then they both threw themselves at me, wrapping me in a tight hug.

"OMG WE HAVE A NEW BUDDY!" The one girl shrieked.

"OMG I KNOW!" The other shrieked. The girl with brown hair and eyes pulled away first, sticking out her hand.

"I. Am Catherine Jazz, but you may call me CJ. Or Jazz. Or Catherine. But really I prefer CJ, just because I'm used to it. Anyways, the girl still hugging you is Claire. She has psychosis. But she's normal. Not really. Anyways, what am I forgetting? OH YEAH! I'm ADHD. And a pyromaniac. SO I LOVE FIREWORKS!" CJ bounced up and down energetically before Liz put her hands on her shoulders.

"CJ! How much sugar did you eat this morning?" CJ frowned, almost vibrating with energy beneath Liz's hands.

"Well…" She said, pursing her lips. "You know. A lot." Patti giggled before falling over.

"SAME HERE!" Patti shrieked randomly before popping up again. The three girls all ran into the room again, pulling Liz, Tsubaki and I after them. CJ roundhouse kicked the door shut before spreading her arms wide in front of her, beaming.

"This is my room. Awesome, isn't it?" I looked around in amazement. Her walls were covered in sharpie doodle, the black marker contrasting sharply with the bright white. The desk was messy and overflowing, stories and pencils and notebooks pouring out of the stuffed drawers, diagrams of strange things I couldn't place a name to littering the top. Her closet was bursting, full of big black boots, converse sneakers, neon T-shirts and jean shorts. The most interesting thing, though, was an assortment of firework posters on the ceiling. Vibrant color bursts covering all of the ceiling made me feel like I was watching a real firework display, my first in years. I felt a smile spread over my face, matching CJ's and Claire's and Patti's, not minding the concerned look Tsubaki gave me.

"This is cool." I said simply. CJ grinned at me, nodding her head in approval. Liz dropped onto the messy bed, her arms spread against the sheets. Patti and Claire flopped onto the floor and began making snow angels again, laughing their heads off. Tsubaki politely sat on the desk chair, folding her hands gracefully. CJ and I plopped onto the floor with all the agility of a drunk walrus, sitting Indian style. CJ offered us a lazy smile.

"So. What do you guys want to talk about?"

**And that is the end of the fourth chapter. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS!**

**1. If anyone can guess what song I listened to while writing Maka's backstory, I'll write a one-shot in your honor and add it to ****88 drabbles, songfics and one-shots.**** You choose if it's SoulxMaka or KidxLiz or whoever you want, and then if you want it to be Angst, or Romance, or Humor or whatever. As long as it's not a lemon. If it's a songfic, you can pick the song as well. Who's up for the challenge? :D PM me or leave your answer in the comments. **

**2. Does anyone believe that I actually based the appearances of my OC off of myself? It's true. I look that crazy. Believe it J**

**3. Don't worry, Soul is coming soon!**

**Ty: Hey, how come I'm gay in this story?**

**Me: Because YOU ARE gay in real life…**

**Ty: Oh yeah. I forgot.**

**Maka: *face palms***

**Me: yeah, you get used to it. Anyways, please review!**


	5. Sleepover to remember

**So, this is a really simple chapter. Kind of short, just about the girls. It has to do with something I have coming up in the next few chapters, so chill people. It's NOT just a stupid filler chapter! It has meaning! There's actually some LizxKid in here, but it's still Maka's POV. It's amazingly peppy; I didn't think I had it in me, considering I was listening to ****Just a Dream**** by Carrie Underwood and I feel really sad and crappy, because I'm ****_really_**** sick. Like, in-the-hospital-if-I-have-one-more-blood-test-I-think-I'll-explode sick. That's why this chapter wasn't up earlier. I don't think a chapter under 10 pages has ever taken me this long. Well, oh well. ANYWAYS! On a happier note, let's get to the review responses and disclaimers!**

**KatieOoT- I try to update, like, all the time, because I love writing and whenever people review, I get all like- OH YEAH! AWESOME! PEOPLE LIKE ME! And stuff. So yay :D Ah damn, forgot to do an once-over! I suck at those, but sorry! J**

**Mouers- YAY! :D**

**Supernaturalchick9- Have I mentioned that I really like your screen name?**

**Guest- Wish granted :D**

**Blacksword 1- This is an absolute SoMa story! It's just that Soul still needs to make his appearance.**

**Akamaruwolf323- Thank you :D Yep. Kid's pills are absolutely and hideously asymmetrical! Yeah, as the story progresses, I'll probably add more and more backstories.**

**livy leaf- Thanks, so do I J**

**Anonymous- YAY! Thanks, I tried.**

**Anonymous- thank you, I'm just going with the imaginative flow :D Yeah, I suck when It comes to descriptions! It's my Achilles heel. I either do too little or too much. Sorry! I'll try to tone it down!**

**Rebelchickie- O.O OMD. Your review totally made my sucky day turn awesome! Thank you so much! You're so freaking nice! *passes out***

Maka: OH HELL NO! You did NOT just pass out AGAIN! This is, what? The second time in this story alone? Death dammit, woman!

Me: *wakes up to see Maka yelling her head off* Hm… I think I'm going to go get some more ice cream. Review!

Liz gasped as an idea suddenly came to her.

"LET'S HAVE A SLEEPOVER!" She exclaimed suddenly, interrupting our conversation of bands and music and making our little gang of girls go crazy. I frowned as the excited gasps and whispers reached my ears. In the stupid pamphlet Miss Marie showed me, I had read the rules of the hospital, and I know for a fact that sleepovers were forbidden. The few years I got to go to public school before my Mama started homeschooling me, I had found out that I was a stickler for rules, and apparently I still was. I was explaining this to Liz, who had probably thrown away her pamphlet away before seeing the cover, when she cut me off impatiently.

"Come on, Maka! It'll be fun! Just imagine it for a second- You, Tsubaki, CJ, Claire, Patti, and I, all having our first sleepover together! We could play Truth or Dare, Never have I ever, Would you rather… we can stay up all night-"

"And steal candy and pop from the kitchen!" Patti chimed in, making Liz gag.

"And share secrets!" Tsubaki gently said, excited.

"We can tell really creepy stories!" CJ gasped, clasping her hands together under her chin, her eyes sparkling in excitement. Liz looked at me, giving me wide Bambi eyes. Patti and CJ started bouncing up and down, squealing about a bunch of other things we could do during a sleepover. Claire just smiled as she spun around in circles. Tsubaki walked over to me, smiling gently.

"Please?" She begged her eyes wide. "It wouldn't be the same without you!" All the girls-save Claire- were eagerly looking at me, as I was the only one hesitating. It took me a moment to realize something that Liz had said was probably true; all of us have never had a sleepover. This one-if it ever happened- would be our first sleepover _ever._

I didn't have any friends before the girls, so I've never had one. Kids knew me as the isolated nerd down the street and to the left, who had a powerful Papa that was the head of the police force, and was somehow strong enough to knock their teeth in if they were insulting.

Tsubaki had overprotective parents, and sleepovers were probably looked down upon in her household. Not to mention how much the stress of one would have freaked her out, due to her having G.A.D. I don't know if she had any friends, either; kids might have bullied her for stressing out so easily, even though she had such a gentle nature.

Liz and Patti were criminals, so sleepovers-and friends- were probably out of the question until they came here, and even now it was still against the rules. I guess I could see why it appealed to them.

Claire had psychosis, and was probably bullied and feared because of it in her school. She was probably too insane without her medication to know what a sleepover was, much less care to have one. Her hyper ramblings and overall oddness probably scared everyone within a three mile range of her.

CJ had most likely scared of any potential friends at her school, as normal girls had probably been frightened of her… explosive tendencies. They wouldn't have understood the fact that she was crazy. Plus, she was severely ADHD. She would have gotten extremely irritated having a sleepover with people that didn't understand her.

Wow, we were a lonely batch of misfits, huh? But here we were, in our group of first best friends, begging for a sleepover. And who was I to say no?

"Fine," I sighed after a moment's pause, my shoulders slumping in defeat. "But only if Miss Marie is okay with it, too." Liz grinned at me, throwing a skinny arm around my shoulders and guiding me out of CJs room and out into the hallway of doors, the girls obediently following.

"You got it, Maka. Just wait; this is going to be _perfect!" _She said excitedly.

~TIME SKIP~

_In Miss Marie's office_

"Absolutely not." Miss Marie stated firmly, earning moans and groans from everyone, including me. I sorta maybe kinda have gotten into the idea of having a sleepover with the girls. But now we couldn't have one according to Miss Marie, and now I was extremely upset, even though I had originally wanted her to say no. Well, I guess a lot can change in a five second walk. I looked at Liz pleadingly.

"Do something!" I whispered; quiet enough so that only she could hear. Liz gave a grin and turned back to our therapist, with a determined look in her eyes and a stubborn set to her jaw.

"If we can't have a sleepover then I'll…. I'll go on another hunger strike!" She declared, crossing her arms and earning gaping stares from everyone else in the room.

"You wouldn't do that!" Miss Marie sweat dropped as she pleaded with the anorexic girl, who didn't seem to want to budge. Liz was serious; she had that stubborn aura around her. Finally, Miss Marie caved.

"Fine… you can have a sleepover!" She sighed, earning six excited cheers. "Actually, I suppose it's a good thing you came here. I needed to speak with you girls about something, so it saves me the trouble of having to find you later."

We stopped cheering, suddenly nervous. What had we done since I arrived that could have gotten us in trouble? Maybe we weren't in trouble… yeah, no. That's too weak of a hope. But, it was still one we decided to cling to.

"Uh… what do you need to talk to us about?" Patti asked hesitantly. Miss Marie seemed surprised at how scared we seemed, and started laughing.

"Oh, no!" She laughed. "You're not in trouble! I wanted to introduce you girls to someone. This is Karlyn Grath, a new nurse here at the hospital." She gestured over to a chair in the back corner, which was occupied by a girl that I hadn't noticed before. She smiled and stood, walking over to us with a cheerful wave. I recognized her as the girl that was in charge of the puzzle table the day we had our little concert in the rec room.

Karlyn was a girl our age that had brown hair that was streaked, not unlike CJs, and brown eyes. She wore noticeable gold hoop earrings and a necklace with a little frog charm on it. She also wore bright blue flats, black leggings and a black silk shirt covered in pink and blue flower designs. The most noticeable thing, however, were her nails. They were painted black and white zebra print, strangely enough.

"Hey there, guys!" She said cheerfully. "I'm Karlyn. Yesterday, I heard you guys singing in the rec room, and you sounded really cool. The kids really seemed to like it. Well, while I was watching you sing, I had the idea of creating a little band for the hospital. It would be you girls, except Claire, because she doesn't know how to sing, and every- oh, I don't know, Friday I suppose- you would do a concert in the rec room. What do you guys think?" She looked at us eagerly, and not having to wait long for an answer. I had the chance to sing again! It was like a dream come true!

All doubts I had about coming to this hospital slowly started to fade as my girls and I exchanged grins.

"Do you even have to ask?" CJ told her with a smile.

~TIME SKIP~

LATER THAT NIGHT

I was munching cheerfully on potato chips that Patti and I had raided from the kitchen, along with a twelve pack of caffeinated Pepsi, which we had carried back to my room where we were hosting the sleepover with a stealth that we didn't know we had, being painstakingly careful so that we wouldn't wake anyone up.

But at the moment we had been discussing what songs we should sing for our first concert, as it WAS only a few days away, and we still had to practice.

"No way! You used to take vocals, too? That's why you sounded so good!" CJ exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air and accidentally falling off my messy bed.

We had all gathered in my room, decked out in sweat pants, old Tees, and really fuzzy slippers, flopping onto my bed and comfy beanbags we had- according to Liz- _borrowed_ from the group therapy room. We were all relaxed, downing caffeinated pop and popcorn, save for Liz, and candy as we discussed, laughing and chatting and generally having an awesome. I grinned, both at CJ's compliment and the realization that this sleepover was officially a success, and we needed to have them more often.

"Yeah, I love music. It's… just awesome, I guess." I said dreamily, slouching in my beanbag lazily as I munched on another potato chip as I savored the salty goodness.

"Anyways girls, I had some ideas for the concert, since that was what we were talking about originally." Patti said, sliding off my bed and onto the ground. Tsubaki and I sat up in our beanbags, intrigued. CJ crawled over to her friend, Liz almost falling on top of her as she slid off my bed next to Patti. It was true, though. We had been thinking about what song we should sing before the topic of my singing popped up.

"What do you got?" Liz asked her hyperactive sister lazily, leaning back and inspecting her perfectly groomed nails. I marveled at her ability to look like a supermodel in an old Beetles T shirt and ratty black sweats. Then I looked closer at her nails, realizing with surprise that they looked like Karlyn's, but with giraffe print instead of zebra print.

"What's up with all the really cool nails around here?" I asked, completely off topic as I noticed that all the girls' had rocking nails. Tsubaki had neon pink nails with little white daisies, CJ had black nails with red fireworks, and Patti had yellow, orange and red plaid nails. Even Claire who was sitting in the corner laughing maniacally as she colored a picture of a flying pig had cool nail that were white with blue swirls.

"Oh! Yeah, I forgot about that." Patti exclaimed, her song idea forgotten. "That's Claire's doing. She loves painting nails. She'll do yours, if you want. It's just a weird obsession." Claire perked up, no longer laughing, her picture forgotten.

"Oh no, that's all right-" I began, even though I really wanted really cool nails, too, and getting cut off by Claire, who had already pulled out a bunch of nail polish bottles from her bag. She took my hand, grabbing a white nail polish bottle and beginning. Liz shrugged and smiled at me.

"Well, too bad. Anyways, Patti, what was your idea?" She asked. Patti blinked, remembering what we were talking about.

"Oh yeah! Like I was saying, I had an idea for the concert. I think that all the songs we come up with should involve something that's going on in our life." She explained. Suddenly, a sparkle appeared in her eyes as she smiled. "Like, for example, we could sing She Will be Loved by Maroon 5 for Tsubaki, because she has a MAJOR crush on Black Star, and he's too blind to realize it!" She was obviously teasing, but a bright blush appeared on Tsubaki's face.

"He's not that bad!" She protested, the blush deepening when Patti started laughing. "But I like it, though. Our songs reflecting our lives." We all nodded in agreement, liking the idea. I felt another grin spread over my face, an idea taking root in my mind.

"Speaking of crushes, who wants to play an extreme game of Truth or Dare?" I asked, evil coating my voice. Liz gave a grin identical to mine, flashing me a thumbs up.

"Extreme? How do you mean?" Tsubaki whispered, obviously nervous, making me feel slightly bad. I felt my grin vanish, replaced with a gentle smile.

"It's ok Tsubaki. Just pick Truth a lot if you're nervous, okay?" She smiled, her eyes losing that nervous look. That was, of course, until Liz got involved.

"OH HELL NO, TSUBAKI!" She yelled, sliding over and sticking her face right up against a terrified Tsubaki's.

"YOU'RE GOING TO PICK DARE AND YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE IT!" Liz yelled. "CAPESH?"

"Y-yes ma'am!" Tsubaki squeaked in reply, her eyes wide and scared. I sighed, pulling Liz none too gently off Tsubaki.

"Down, girl." I laughed as Liz showed me an irritated face. "Anyways, Liz, you can go first." Liz cocked an eyebrow as she closely examined us, one by one, trying to figure out the inevitable question of who would be tortured- I MEAN, you know, questioned- first… yeah. Well, you couldn't really be sure when it came to Liz, so, no guarantees. Suddenly she pointed at an energetic CJ, making her jump.

"Truth or Dare?" she asked her. CJ grinned cockily.

"Easy. I pick Truth." She said replied. A dark aura glowed around Liz as an evil grin formed on the blondes' face. Big mistake.

"Who do you like?" It was an easy question. Actually, it was probably the most asked question in Truth or Dare. I could have seen it coming a mile away. But, CJ must not have, for she paled considerably.

"I pick Dare!" She squeaked to my surprise. Who she liked was not that big of a deal… right?

"Fine then, I dare you to answer that question!" Liz stated simply. We all were interested now. CJ wasn't really the kind of person to be romantic, or keep secrets. Truthfully, when Liz asked the question, I expected her to laugh and say no one. OBVIOUSLY, that wasn't the case.

"Come on!"

"It couldn't be that bad!"

"Is it Kid?"

"Black Star?"

"What about Crona?"

We all encouraged, pressing harder. Whoever the hell this guy was, I needed to shake his hand for being able to get CJ to act like this.

"IT'S AMOS, DAMMIT!" She yelled suddenly, burying her face in her hands. "I love Amos (1). And he's gay. So basically it's pointless…" Everyone stared at her in shock.

Well, I guess that explains that her embarrassed act wasn't really an act, was it?

"Oh, CJ!" Tsubaki gasped, pulling said girl into a hug along with Patti. Liz frowned, stroking her chin as she thought.

"Well, that was unexpected." She said.

My words exactly.

"No duh, Liz." I said with a sigh, earning a shrug from the match-maker. I don't really think she could do much, considering Amos is gay and all… of all guys she could have a crush on, CJ chose the one she couldn't get.

"Come on, CJ! Cheer up!" Liz said encouragingly, patting the pyromaniac on the back. "WE WILL HELP YOU TURN AMOS STRAIGHT! After all, what are friends for? In the meantime, you can humiliate someone, since it's your turn. Come on, won't that make you happy?" CJ gave a deep sigh before reaching over to grab a handful of Oreo's and shoving them into her mouth. Drowning her pain in sugar, I guess. It's better than alcohol, I thought bitterly as I remembered all of my Papas' drinking. Well, screw him.

"I guess it would. Well, _Liz_, Truth or Dare?" CJ said thoughtfully. Liz gave a sigh, flopping back into her beanbag.

"I pick Dare." She said, inspecting a piece of popcorn closely before flicking it back into the pink plastic bowl, a disgusted look on her face.

"Fine. I dare you to…" A grin lit up CJs face. "Go knock on Kids' door, and if he answers, you have to give him a hug." Liz raised a perfectly trimmed eyebrow, a scowl forming on her pretty features.

"No. Not happening." She said simply. Patti grinned at me, noticing my expression.

"Liz likes Kid. It's kind of obvious, when you really think about it." She explained, climbing back onto my bed and giving her pillow a hug.

"I KNEW IT!" I yelled, making the girls jump. They stared at me, wondering if I had taken my medication today… which I had…. I think.

"That Liz liked Kid." I added. Everyone 'Ah'-ed and nodded. Suddenly, another voice rang out, startling everyone again. This time, surprisingly, it was Claire, who had finally finished doing my nails. I lifted my hands, inspecting my nails in awe.

They were so pretty! My nails were more intricately done then the other girls, surprisingly. Claire did shockingly good nail art for someone with psychosis.

My nails were white, with a different music note painted in red resting on a black music staff. There was a half-note, a quarter-note, a whole-note, a treble clef, and… a letter G?

My thumbs were painted slightly different then my other nails. They were painted all black, with the letter G painted in red in a fancy lettering that I was surprised that Claire could manage doing with a nail polish brush.

"They're so pretty…" I breathed. "Thank you. But… why G?" I looked up at Claire. She shrugged, seeming saner then I've ever seen her.

"I'm not sure… It just seemed to be a fitting note for you. Not too complicated, or busy, or fancy, but not too plain, or bland. It just is. It's one of the simplest and prettiest music notes; grounded, and steady, linking you to the music in its own way. A truly beautiful sound." I blinked, realizing that was the most I've ever heard her say, not to mention the sanest and deepest. From the looks on everyone's faces, I could tell it was like that for everyone else as well. Then she laughed like the crazy person she was and went back to coloring her picture that had lain forgotten in the corner that I had officially dubbed Claire's Corner, and the spell was broken.

"Uh… yeah." CJ said, blinking. "Anyways, sorry Liz. You wouldn't let me back out, so you can't either. Suck it up and go do it." Liz glared at her, frowning deeply as she slowly got up, inching her way towards the door. We all grinned at each other behind her back as we jumped up, following her, none of us wanting to miss this.

Inch by inch, she made her way to the door. That was, of course, until Patti got sick of her being so slow. Picking up her sister and throwing her over her shoulder, she marched towards the door. A quick glance at the other girls' faces revealed that no one else was surprised, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised either.

Throwing the door open using her free hand, Patti skipped down the hallway of doors, humming happily while the skinny girl on her shoulder fought tooth and nail not to go hug Kid, as much as she liked him. Reaching the black door, Patti dropped her sister and pointed at the black and white lettering sternly.

"Go hug Kid. Now." Liz shook her head stubbornly.

"You can't make me." She said, scrambling up and placing her hand on a cocked hip, acting the role of an annoyed older sister and not a whining six year old that she had been portraying only seconds earlier.

"Oh can't I?" Patti said, raising an eyebrow. Turning away from her sister, she pounded on the door, screaming at the top of her voice.

"KID! KID, GET OUT HERE! LIZZY NEEDS YOU!" I could hear hurried footsteps behind the door. Patti turned and charged at us, as though running away from a ticking time bomb.

"Back to the room, back to the room, back to the room…" She chanted, grabbing a shocked Tsubaki's and my hand and pulling us frantically along, CJ running behind us, laughing her head off.

We leaped into the room, not bothering to close the door as we landed in a messy, laughing heap inside my room. Then we looked at each other, no longer laughing.

"How do we tell if Liz actually does hug Kid?" I asked slowly, knowing that every other girl was thinking the same thing. We all scrambled to the door, falling over ourselves in our hurry. We popped our heads out the door, one on top of the other, stifling laughter as we attempted to be quiet and failing.

Then I had to stifle a gasp at what I saw. Liz had actually done it. She was standing in front of Kid, her arms thrown over his shoulders, burying her face into his chest. I could just barely see her closed eyes. Kid just stood there, shocked, his eyes wide and his mouth opened slightly. I'm guessing this doesn't happen to him often.

_Come on, stupid! Hug her back or she's going to think you're rejecting her! Idiot!_ I cursed Kid as precious seconds were wasted. I could tell Liz was starting to worry…. Then the idiot finally hugged her back. His eyes closed as a small smile found its way onto his face. His arms went around her waist, hugging her closer.

I heard myself squeal happily as I fell over backwards, upsetting the balance of our little pyramid. A few second later, my girls came crashing down on top of me.

Muttering and groaning, we all separated, crawling into beanbags and on my bed, flopping and cursing weakly. Suddenly the door slammed, making us all jump.

Liz leaned against the door, slowly sinking to the ground, a huge smile finding a way onto her face.

"That. Was. Awesome." She breathed. Then she looked up from the ground and at us. "Well, I guess it's my turn… uh… Maka. Truth or Dare?"

I thought carefully, weighing my options. If I did Truth, I don't even want to know what would happen, since it was Liz. I'm pretty sure I could stomach a Dare. Since they didn't know any of my fears, and they didn't know who I liked, they wouldn't be able to come up with a god-awful Dare. Sucking in a breath, I straightened.

"Dare."

I could see Patti's face light up as she leaned over to whisper something in her sister's ear. From the evil look on Liz's face, I knew it would mean something bad for me. I started to wonder if playing Truth or Dare was the best idea…

"You have to go up to the fifth floor and knock on someone's door, then run away before they can answer, if they _can_ answer, all while staying hidden from the nurses."

I felt my jaw drop. WHAT?

**1) No, I don't actually love Ty. He's just one of my best friends.**

**Ty: Ah, damn.**

**Me: IDIOT! YOU'RE. GAY!**

**Ty: Oh yeah… **

**Me: …**

**Anyways. Will Maka do it or chicken out of her dare? Eh. You'll find out sometime later this week. Peace out my awesome readers!**


	6. important notice: I'm sorry, guys

**Please read. This is very important. **

Hey everyone, Ivy here. I'm sorry about not updating in so long. A lot of things have happened that caused my long absence, like developing cancer and getting a boyfriend (Rinnie. Who would have thought?). Now, I'm recovering from cancer, and I was released from the hospital. However, I can't find nthe motivation, energy or inspiration to write anymore. That's why, as of February 22, 2013 I'm officially putting all of my stories up for adoption. I'll be sure to inform you of who takes on what story do you can continue reading them. I don't want to see my stories cut off where they are (they all have cliffhangers), so if you'd like to continue one of my stories, PM me at any time. Once all of my stories have another willing author, I'll say goodbye to Fanfiction and focus my efforts on gettin better and spending more time with my family, friends and boyfriend. Thanks so much to everyone that read my stories, added them to their favorites/alerts, commented, and just supported this crazy 15 year old girl as I tried my hand at writing.

Love you all, thanks so much!

-Ivy


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